The house where a man is holding a woman hostage in the Rincon area this afternoon. (Photo by G.G. Rigsby/EffinghamNow)

Law enforcement officers gather outside the house in the Westwood Heights subdivision where a man is holding a woman at gunpoint this afternoon.(Photo by G.G. Rigsby/EffinghamNow)

An almost five-hour hostage situation in a Rincon subdivision ended in the death of the suspect Friday night.

The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office received a call about 2:30 p.m. of a report of a man holding a woman hostage at gunpoint.

Law enforcement officers from a number of agencies surrounded the area around the home at 205 Whitehall Ave. in the Westwood Heights subdivision, located on the west side of Ga. 21 in the Rincon area.

Hostage negotiators from both the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office and the Savannah-Chatham police spoke with the unidentified white man off and on throughout the afternoon. Effingham County Chief Magistrate Judge Scott Hinson was also on the scene.

About 7 p.m., the white female hostage came out of the home on to the porch, followed by the suspect.

“The suspect brandished a rifle and was shot at least once,” Effingham County Sheriff’s Office spokesman David Ehsanipoor said. The man was pronounced dead on the scene by the county coroner.

The suspect was shot by a member of the Savannah-Chatham SWAT team.

The female was transported to Memorial University Medical Center. Ehsanipoor had no information Friday night about her injuries but did report she was not shot.

Around 6:40 p.m., three loud bangs could be heard coming from the direction of the home.

Ehsanipoor could not confirm the exact number of shots that had been fired.

“More than one,” Ehsanipoor said.

“Right now we are securing search warrants, and it’s going to be a slow and tedious process. We’ll be out here for a while tonight,” Ehsanipoor said.

Investigators were going to Memorial late Friday to question the female hostage.

Names of the hostage and suspect would not be released until possibly Saturday, Ehsanipoor said.

Ehsanipoor said they did not know of anyone else in the home, but investigators were still searching the home.

Residents in adjacent houses were evacuated Friday afternoon during the early stages of the hostage negotiation.

Next-door neighbor Ross Maruca said officers made him and his wife leave their home in a hurry after 3 p.m. They loaded their dog into a van in their driveway, but were made to leave so quickly that they couldn’t retrieve the dog.

Maruca said the man who lives next door, who he believes was the one holding the gun, moved in about a year ago. He said the man has told him that he’s on anti-psychotic medicine and that he doesn’t hold a job.